Coming soon to the Nevada desert: “BundyFest”?

posted at 8:01 pm on April 23, 2014 by Allahpundit

Via Becket Adams and TheBlaze, it’s not what you think. Although it does sound like it’ll involve a lot of, er, freedom.

Attendees of the annual Burning Man festival plan to converge near Cliven Bundy’s property in September for a 30-day “rules-free” gathering, a cheeky response to the rancher’s refusal to recognize federal authority in Nevada.

“For years, we paid permitting fees to hold Burning Man on the beautiful Playa in Northern Nevada,” reads the event’s Facebook page. “But now, Cliven Bundy has shown us a NEW WAY! ABSOLUTE FREEDOM! Bundy has declared the entire area surrounding Bundy Ranch as a TOTALLY RULES-FREE ZONE! ANYTHING GOES! WOO-HOO!!!”…

No permits will be required for “BundyFest,” nudity is encouraged and participants are expected to embrace the festival’s gay friendly atmosphere, according to the event’s Facebook page.

There will be no bathroom facilities, Shealy warned, but festivalgoers can always use the great outdoors.

“You’re free to let it all hang out right there, just like Bundy’s cattle, right there in the Virgin River, if you want to,” he said.

It started as a Facebook goof aimed at satirizing Bundy’s claim to the land but it’s gotten picked up by various lefty, and even mainstream, media outlets so now maybe it’s becoming a thing. The plan, supposedly, is to set up shop on federal land across the street from Bundy’s ranch and “let it all hang out.” As for the militias, here’s what the “organizer” told the Las Vegas Sun:

We have in fact, invited the militias. They will be needed. They are defending the principle that this land is open and free to all to use however we wish — and that includes BundyFest! We will need them to hold off the BLM and local law enforcement throughout this festival, just as they showed up for Cliven Bundy. It is the exact same principle. There cannot be one set of laws for Bundy and a different set for the rest of us. If the militias are acting on principle, then they will defend our rights, as well.

Bundy’s been using the land far longer than BundyFest has, of course, but contrary to what I’ve seen on some sites, his family wasn’t there before the feds were. This local news report has a thorough timeline of events. The federal grazing district in Vegas was established in 1936, the BLM was established in 1946, and then Bundy’s parents purchased the ranch in 1948, when he was two. Either way, I’m curious to know what the BLM’s response will be if the BundyFest people manage to pull together a crowd for the “festival.” Will they let them on the land to make a point or try to keep them off lest they be accused of a double standard?

Via RCP, here’s Bill O’Reilly asking one Bundy supporter what the difference is between him and Occupy Wall Street. After all, they both seized public land (well, quasi-public in the case of Zuccotti Park) for their own ends. The reply comes that Bundy is doing something productive whereas OWS was clearly not, but c’mon: It can’t be that a few thousand OWSers occupying Central Park would be tolerated if only they promised to grow vegetables for sale.

Blowback

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Burning Man is an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

I would assume that radical self-reliance means if the feds arrive with armored vehicles and snipers to throw you out, you self-reliant types don’t need a militia for protection because you’re….well….radically self-reliant.

And if you’ve ever seen the participants of Burning Man you would realize it’s a collection of people looking for an excuse to dress all “edgy” but mostly end up looking like douchebags. There’s a few chicks who tip the hotness meter but they are few and far between.

If you’re really lucky you’ll encounter the dude who plays a trumpet that he shoves up his rear entrance and farts into the mouthpiece, no kidding.

Either way, I’m curious to know what the BLM’s response will be if the BundyFest people manage to pull together a crowd for the “festival.”

The BLM , ( also known as the official cattle rustlers to
Hairy Greed ), will show up with food, water , weed, crack , meth, booze and portapotties for the poopurz ,
and will kill some more Bundy Ranch cows while they are there.
Maybe this time, the BLM will try to kill someone in the ranch too , who knows what their boss wants to his massa.

And if you’ve ever seen the participants of Burning Man you would realize it’s a collection of people looking for an excuse to dress all “edgy” but mostly end up looking like douchebags. There’s a few chicks who tip the hotness meter but they are few and far between.

If you’re really lucky you’ll encounter the dude who plays a trumpet that he shoves up his rear entrance and farts into the mouthpiece, no kidding.

Well, if it’s truly free, and they’re inviting the militia, then I suggest the militia attend and engage in a little… target practice. =)

Stoic Patriot on April 23, 2014 at 8:11 PM

lmao.

typing “x tian” without a space is enough to get one’s post moderated — hotair’s x tians, for all their rhetoric, desperately covet the right not to have their childish superstitions offended — but the all-too-common exhortation to “kill gays for target practice :)” is as kosher as gefilte on challah.

I would assume that radical self-reliance means if the feds arrive with armored vehicles and snipers to throw you out, you self-reliant types don’t need a militia for protection because you’re….well….radically self-reliant.

Bishop on April 23, 2014 at 8:15 PM

well, then we know for sure that simpering, criminal leech bundy isn’t self-reliant by any stretch of the imagination. glad you cleared that up.

Some say there are no stupid questions, but leave it to the bloviating pinhead, the ignoramus O’Reilly, to find one.

…yeah, because refusing to pay the government the same land-usage fees as every other rancher in order to enrich oneself at public expense is something a hero does.

sorry, chump. being the victim of an overzealous, quasi-oppressive government doesn’t make a role model out of a common thief bilking the public out of the much-needed fees associated with his industry.

if one doesn’t want to pay the same land-usage fees everyone else does, one ought to buy his own land or find another profession. the hell with desert tortoise breeding grounds — bundy is a petty crook who has managed to sell himself as some sort of patriotic dissenter to the very people from whom he’s stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars.

After all, they both seized public land (well, quasi-public in the case of Zuccotti Park) for their own ends. The reply comes that Bundy is doing something productive whereas OWS was clearly not, but c’mon: It can’t be that a few thousand OWSers occupying Central Park would be tolerated if only they promised to grow vegetables for sale.

I’m a little disappointed with your juvenile assessment, AP, and fully expected you to interject your usually insightful take on an issue such at this, irrespective of the quality of the original question or the answer.

For instance, seizing property is a sideshow of the OWS-Bundy comparison. the crux of the difference is who the two protested against — OWS protesting private businesses and Bundy protesting the government. In that vein one could suggest the OWS was supporting the Obama Admin’s effort to ostracize the financial industry whereas Bundy is targeting the correct villain — the Feds. In fact one might stretch the argument to say that the BLM is the OWS in this case and Bundy is the financial industry.

…yeah, because refusing to pay the government the same land-usage fees as every other rancher in order to enrich oneself at public expense is something a hero does.

jaxisaneurophysicist on April 23, 2014 at 8:51 PM

Since the fees is an expense not paying them means more profit thus more taxes paid to the government. Considering the fact that 50 other ranchers quit (no profit?) the government got more from Bundy in taxes the last 20 years. If he payed the fees with the 150 head limit he would of went belly up years age.

Considering the fact that 50 other ranchers quit (no profit?) the government got more from Bundy in taxes the last 20 years. If he payed the fees with the 150 head limit he would of went belly up years age.

wifarmboy on April 23, 2014 at 9:27 PM

Thats a good point.
Also, I think Bundy should back charge (with compounding interest) for the organic fertilizer and the labor of cultivating the ground for better absorption of water and nutrients. Actually the labor and the distribution of organic fertilizer is quite specific in it’s application, improving the land in the specific areas where forage was found. As everyone knows, such specialized treatment of only certain areas is much more expensive than simply random broadcasting of whole areas, and Bundy should charge accordingly.

Attendees of the annual Burning Man festival plan to converge near Cliven Bundy’s property in September for a 30-day “rules-free” gathering, a cheeky response to the rancher’s refusal to recognize federal authority in Nevada.

Ok, maybe someone needs to find out where Shealy (the community organizer) lives and do a similar gathering. I’m sure the neighbors would not mind:

There will be no bathroom facilities, Shealy warned, but festivalgoers can always use the great outdoors.

Frankly it looks to me that it was all about driving him out of business and making his ranch worthless. I’m guessing he figured if he was going to lose it anyway he would go out being the biggest pain in the ass he could be to the bureaucracy.

And if you’ve ever seen the participants of Burning Man you would realize it’s a collection of people looking for an excuse to dress all “edgy” but mostly end up looking like douchebags. There’s a few chicks who tip the hotness meter but they are few and far between.

If you’re really lucky you’ll encounter the dude who plays a trumpet that he shoves up his rear entrance and farts into the mouthpiece, no kidding.

I would think if you’re going there to thumb your noses at militia types you might want to ask the BLM to change this policy.

kcewa on April 23, 2014 at 8:22 PM

A couple of years ago I took an automatic weapons course in Nevada. One of the other participants happened to be one of the Burning Man organizers. Based on her stories – while not part of the “official” Burning Man events – there was always a firing range set up somewhere nearby. Perhaps that got out-of-hand and is why the “Second Amendment Free Zone” has been declared.

By the way, O’Reilly is a pinhead. Occupy wants far more federal control of land and property, especially including the land on Sixth Avenue where sits Fox and the Long Island neighborhood where O’Reilly lives. Occupy looks at the 87% of Nevada owned by the Feds and compares it to the 1% of NY similarly owned, and sees the problem as one of too little control of New York. Bundy is diametrically opposed to this view.

O’Reilly often asks questions he really doesn’t want the answer to, because he’s setting up a strawman to make an editorial point. Maybe he was doing that here, but its a pretty stupid point. Or maybe the words just escaped his mouth before he realized they were non-sensical.

It’s stuff like this that makes me turn O’Reilly off when he his show comes on. I try to watch, I really do, especially when he sends Jesse Watters out to Telluride to interview potheads, but O’Reilly himself is unwatchable.

Going to the desert the first week of Sept is a great location to hold a burning up man fest. If they think they can drink the water from the Virgin river, they can end up with some really terrible diseases. I give ‘em a day and a half before they haul azz back to civilization. Never mind the desert tortoises, they better watch out for the rattlesnakes. This territory ain’t NYC or some park in Las Vegas. Bundy’s cows might even organize a midnight stampede. Now, that video would be worth seeing.

And if you’ve ever seen the participants of Burning Man you would realize it’s a collection of people looking for an excuse to dress all “edgy” but mostly end up looking like douchebags. There’s a few chicks who tip the hotness meter but they are few and far between.

If you’re really lucky you’ll encounter the dude who plays a trumpet that he shoves up his rear entrance and farts into the mouthpiece, no kidding.

Hm. Burning Man seems to value “radical inclusion” and “radical self-reliance”. Does it not seem weird that they are excluding via mockery a man who wishes to become less reliant on the government? I was under the impression that the Burning Man itself represented the destruction of authority. Are they supporting the most powerful authority on Earth (the federal government of the United States) over one man and his supporters?